Camera RAW vs. JPEG Ingestion & Proxy Pipeline

Learn how BestShots ingests 21 camera RAW formats, generates high-res inspection proxies locally, and keeps master image files safe on your computer.

High-Throughput Proxy Architecture

Photographers demand uncompromised image fidelity while requiring snappy, zero-latency browser performance when reviewing thousands of images. BestShots delivers both by pairing local client-side extraction with direct-to-cloud proxy streaming. Original camera RAW sensor bytes remain 100% on your local workstation, while high-fidelity 2048px WebP inspection proxies are uploaded to your secure studio vault in minutes.

Supported Camera RAW & Image Formats

BestShots provides native ingestion support for 21 authentic camera RAW and raster formats across all major camera manufacturers:

Manufacturer / Standard	File Extensions	Notes & Specifications
Sony Alpha	`.ARW`, `.SRF`, `.SR2`	Uncompressed, Lossless Compressed, and Compressed RAW from all A7, A1, A9, and FX series cameras.
Canon EOS	`.CR3`, `.CR2`, `.CRW`	Dual Pixel RAW, C-RAW (Compact RAW), and standard RAW formats across modern mirrorless and legacy DSLRs.
Nikon Z & D	`.NEF`, `.NRW`	Lossless 14-bit and High Efficiency RAW (`HE*`) from Z9, Z8, Z6/Z7, and legacy D-series bodies.
Fujifilm X & GFX	`.RAF`	X-Trans sensor patterns and medium format GFX RAW files.
Panasonic Lumix	`.RW2`	Micro Four Thirds and full-frame Lumix S series RAW captures.
Olympus / OM System	`.ORF`	High-resolution shot modes and standard OM System captures.
Leica & Adobe	`.DNG`, `.RWL`	Universal digital negatives, Leica M/SL series, and aerial drone DNG captures.
Hasselblad	`.3FR`, `.FFF`	Medium format captures from X and H system digital backs.
Phase One	`.IIQ`	High-bitrate IQ series commercial medium format files.
Pentax	`.PEF`	Pentax K-series DSLR and mirrorless RAW captures.
Kodak & Leaf	`.KDC`, `.MOS`	Archival and legacy digital medium format studio captures.
Apple iOS / macOS	`.HEIC`, `.HEIF`	High Efficiency Image Container photos from iPhones with depth maps and Apple ProRAW.
Standard Raster	`.JPG`, `.JPEG`, `.PNG`, `.WebP`, `.AVIF`	Full-resolution JPEG deliverables and modern web formats.

Smart Typo Guidance

If a file with a common extension typo is dragged into the dropzone (such as .awr instead of .arw, .rc3 instead of .cr3, or .fen instead of .nef), BestShots actively detects the typo and displays a guidance card indicating the correct camera manufacturer format.

Previews-Only Cloud Ingestion

Traditional web applications attempt to upload whole 50MB to 100MB camera RAW files to cloud servers. For a 2,000-frame wedding or studio shoot, that requires uploading 60GB to 150GB of data, taking hours and often triggering network timeouts or connection drops.

BestShots solves this challenge through a Previews-Only Cloud Ingestion workflow:

Lightweight Header Inspection: Background browser workers inspect only the container headers of your local camera files without loading multi-gigabyte sensor data into memory.
Camera-Rendered Preview Extraction: The extraction pipeline isolates the high-resolution preview generated directly by your camera image signal processor and embedded inside the RAW container.
Hardware-Accelerated Decoding: Your browser decodes the preview on background threads, applying camera EXIF orientation tags automatically.
Normalized WebP Inspection Proxy: The browser renders an optimized 2048px WebP proxy (250KB to 500KB) and a crisp 300px thumbnail.
Lossless EXIF Metadata Preservation: Camera make, camera model, lens, focal length, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and capture timestamp are parsed locally with zero round-trip delay.
Direct Studio Cloud Streaming: Only the lightweight 2048px WebP inspection proxy is uploaded to your encrypted studio cloud vault.
Over 95% Bandwidth Reduction: Ingesting a 50GB RAW shoot requires transmitting only about 1.2GB of WebP proxies. Uploads finish in 2 to 3 minutes instead of multiple hours.
Zero Cloud RAW Exposure: Your master RAW files remain 100% on your local workstation or external SSD.

Note

Because master RAW files never leave your computer, your original sensor data is completely protected from compression or cloud exposure.

Network-Adaptive Concurrency

The client upload manager inspects your active connection metrics to optimize throughput:

High-Speed Fiber / Fast Wi-Fi: Runs up to 4 parallel upload streams simultaneously for rapid ingestion.
Standard Broadband (15 to 50 Mbps): Balances uploads across 2 parallel streams, keeping your studio network responsive.
Constrained / Mobile Hotspots: Throttles down to 1 sequential stream with automatic chunked retries to prevent connection exhaustion.

Recommended Ingestion Strategies

Choose the strategy that fits your studio workflow:

Strategy A: Direct RAW Ingestion (Recommended)

Best For: All shoots, including studio sessions, weddings, and commercial projects.
How It Works: Drag your camera RAW files (.ARW, .CR3, .NEF, .RAF, etc.) directly into BestShots. The app extracts 2048px proxies locally in seconds, runs AI analysis, and exports an XMP Workflow Bundle.
Advantage: Zero pre-conversion required. Master RAW files stay safely on your computer.

Strategy B: Companion RAW + JPEG Shoot

Best For: Photographers who capture dual-slot RAW + JPEG in camera.
How It Works: Upload either the RAW files or companion JPEGs. Because camera files share identical base filenames (such as 080A0386.CR3 and 080A0386.JPG), exported .xmp sidecars pair seamlessly with both formats.
Sync Back: BestShots generates .xmp sidecars retaining original camera stems ({originalName}). Moving sidecars into your photo folder synchronizes ratings across both RAW and JPEG files simultaneously.